Beyond Being
by Piper2.0.5
Summary: The beginning of the man who became B. The man born with shinigami eyes. Lean the story and horrors of his past. Discover what drove him to madness.
1. Prologue: The Fool

"Hey, uh, any of you guys seen Sidoh?" The four shinigami gathered around the gambling bones simultaneously looked around at the one addressing them. They didn't answer. The questioning shinigami's eyes flickered between between the four. He hated being stared at. The shinigami shifted uncomfortably, the stitches holding together his patchwork body adjusting separately to the movement. He looked so pieced together it was hard to believe he could actually move at all.

"Who wants to know, Gelus?" One of the four finally spoke up after several more awkward moments. Gelus hugged the plain black notebook tighter to his chest.

"Well… I do. See, Sidoh dropped his notebook again and I was just going to return it…" He was cut of by the sharp laughter of one of the others.

"Kyehahaha! That idiot. One of these days he's going to drop that thing in the _human_ world then he'll be sorry!" The others joined in the shinigami's laughter. Gelus forced out a chuckle, but didn't really join in. He never liked teasing Sidoh, he always felt kinda sorry for him. "I think Gukku saw him over by the by the portal to the human world. Right?"

"Yeah, I remember seein' him there."

"That moron is probably wanting to write some names, but he doesn't even know he's lost his death note! Kyehahahaha! How stupid can you get?" The others rolled with laughter, adding their own comments about the forgetful shinigami.

"Thanks…" Gelus muttered, but none of his howling fellows showed signs that they even heard him. With a shrug, he turned and clumsily began walking away in the direction of the portal.

As the laughter died away, Gelus found himself downed in silence. The only thing that could be heard was the empty howling of the wind across the barren desert landscape. It left you with an empty feeling, it made you loose hope. Although, the shinigami realm wasn't exactly supposed to be full of sunshine and daisies, Gelus couldn't help feeling that this place could be better. Perhaps Ryuk's constant complaining really did have a point after all. Perhaps this world really was rotten.

Gelus pulled himself from his thoughts and looked up to see the portal not far ahead of him and scurrying about in front of it in a panic was Sidoh. Gelus could help but chuckle a little. The sight really was quite ridicules. Suppressing his laughter, he approached the dome covering the shining portal. Sidoh, in his hysteria, didn't even notice him.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no! Where is it? I just had it… I did… it was right there and then… oh no, oh no, oh no!" Sidoh cried to no one as he ran back and forth, checking under every crevasse around the portal that could possibly hide his death note. When he finally did notice Gelus standing there, he didn't even pause in his anxiety to notice what Gelus had in his arms.

"Could you help me find it? I dropped it somewhere… it's rectangular and black and… I've got to find it!"

"Um, Sidoh?" Gelus said, poking Sidoh's shoulder with one of his short fingers. The shinigami paused and looked over at him. "I found it… a little while from here." Gelus offered the notebook out with both hands and Sidoh, eyes shining, immediately took it. "You really should keep better track of it… or at least fill out enough names to give you plenty of time…"

"You found it! Thank you um…"

"Gelus."

"Gelus! If you hadn't of found it, I would've been…" Sidoh gulped nervously. Gelus only shrugged in response.

"Well, like I said, be more careful." Sidoh didn't act like he had heard the advice. He had turned and opened the notebook in his hands, intently staring down into the portal. Gelus gave up and slowly walked away, leaving Sidoh to add to his lifespan. One of these days someone was going to take advantage of that poor shinigami.

Sidoh honestly didn't mean to be so clumsy with his death note. He didn't even mean to cut it so close when it came to writing names. It was just so difficult to remember when he needed to write names. It wasn't like he could _see_ his own life span or anything. It was a stupid rule anyway, it was as if it was made just to make things hard for him. Oh well, he would write a few down and not have to worry about it for another fifty years or so.

Staring down into the human world, he scribbled down names. Weather or not they gave him a huge amount of years or not didn't really matter, just so long as he got some. Besides, it wasn't easy calculating how many years he got out of it in his head. He squinted his eyes, trying to see properly. It was so bright, the lights illuminating the human world. Sometimes it was hard to get used to. Sidoh grumbled and rubbed his eye with the back of his claw-like hand. Opening them again, he found it hardly helped. Placing his notebook on the ground he rubbed his eyes harder, trying to fight off the he lifted his hands away. Two small red glowing lights, clung to them, pulsing slightly, standing out against the whiteness of the portal.

"Oops…" Sidoh muttered and moved to put the lights back up to his eyes, but they had other ideas. Leaping from Sidoh's grasp, the hovered over the portal to the human world. The shinigami watched open mouthed as the lights slowly orbited each other, as if searching the world below. Then, Sidoh helpless to do anything, they fell strait down, vanishing into the portal. Staring, the shinigami stood there for several moments, unable to believe what just happened. Did he really just drop his eyes? He knew there was a punishment for dropping your only death note in the human world, but was there a punishment for dropping your eyes?

"Oops."

Meanwhile, the two lights sped far above the hills and buildings of the earth, unseen by anyone and anything. They passed over hundreds of miles, constantly searching and never pausing. Unfazed, they passed over large cities, glistening in the sun's cold glow as it's rays reflected off the thin layer of ice coating the roofs. The red lights suddenly froze, stopping in their tracks as if they had hit a brick wall. Just like they had over the portal, they hovered, slowly revolving around one another. Then, they dropped like a stone.

They fell in among the tightly packed buildings of a city and took off along it's streets, flying low and fast, still unseen by a single soul. They dodged cars and humans going about there way, fogged breath hovering over their mouths and they breathed the chilled air. They were searching. Something that would accept them, something that wouldn't reject the fallen eyes. It had to be found fast.

Suddenly, the light's haphazard path straitened like an iron rod, speeding toward one single goal. An auburn haired woman walked innocently down the street with her friend, a shopping bag clutched in her hands. Without even slowing their insane speed, they slammed into the young woman's midsection, nocking he back. She cried out and very nearly fell on to the pavement, but her watchful friend caught her.

"Alexa! Are you alright? What on earth happened?" The other woman cried, concerned about the heath of her friend. Leaning into her friend, the woman clutched her middle, face still contorted in pain and shock. "What happened?"

"I… I don't know… it felt like someone just hit me…" She forced out, her voice carrying a thick british accent. With some assistance she got back on her feet and straitened herself, one hand still resting on her abdomen. "I'm fine now… well… maybe I should head back home…" Her friend agreed and, supporting her, they turned around.

Inside the woman's belly, still unknown by her, a small child was growing, only two weeks from the moment it's fist cells divided. The lights circled around the fetus, as if inspecting it. Then, satisfied, they formed into the still developing eyes of the child. For a moment there was a bright glow, then the lights vanished. The once black eyes of the fetus were now scarlet with the new vision they had gained. The vision of a shinigami.

* * *

><p>The Fool<br>Represents new beginnings, optimism, and zeal for all life has to offer, but carried a warning with it as well. Despite your hope, you still need to watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool.

**Author's Note: **Yay for short prologues! Alright so this is going to be the story of, you guessed it, Beyond Birthday. I'm going to go though his life from his early childhood until the day he left Whammy's house (plus epilogue). Each chapter is going to be represented by an oracle card which sort of a a summary of the feel of the chapter and stuff. Yep.

ANYWHO this is going to pretty much go through the important stages of Beyond's life, yada yada yada. I'll try and make it interesting (and actually finish it) with plenty of action and such.

Yes, I did decide to go with Mello's idea of "If there's a shinigami out there dumb enough to drop his note book, there's probably another one who could drop his eyes". And yes I did give the eyes minds of their own and, unlike Mr. Yagami, Beyond was chosen to have those eyes. Why? God only knows.

The reason I chose The Fool for this chapter is because the card represents a new beginning for Beyond. What could've been a (relatively) normal life for him suddenly changes and becomes something unique and new. And Sidoh is an idiot. Enough said.

I'm not an oracle expert. In fact, I really don't believe in that kind of thing. But I like how each card has a meaning and I thought that it would fit in the story very well! ^_^

**_Another Note: Ishin Nishio  
>Death Note: Tsugumi Ohba<br>Beyond Being: Piper Lynn_**


	2. I: Wheel of Fortune

**Wheel of Fortune**

From the very moment he was born, he had seen them, but he didn't understand them. The names and the numbers. For years they meant nothing to him. Just symbols that hovered above everyone's head, pointless, useless, or so it seemed. They had to represent something, or else they wouldn't be there. He had yet to see a single human that didn't have them. The names and the numbers. As a very young child he had assumed everyone else saw them to. Why would he see something no one else did? He made the mistake of asking his father about them when he was two. The man gave him the strangest most confused look he had even seen. He didn't ask about them so bluntly again. The names and the numbers.

He was three when he figured out the first one. His mother was reading to him. A word on the page popped out to him like a neon sign. Birthday. One of the things he saw hovering over his Dad's head. He interrupted his mother, asking what it was. What did it mean? He had to know.

"It says Birthday." His mother explained. "That's our last name, isn't that nice?"

At that moment it clicked. They spelled out _names_. His name, his mother's name, his father's name, everyone's. It didn't take him long after that to learn to read. After all, he had practice everywhere he went. All he had to do was go up to someone and ask their name. He would watch above their head as they told him, following the word, matching it with the sound.

"What's your name?" His little voice calling up to the person. They would look started at first and sometimes they would ignore him, but most of the time they would smile and answer.

"I'm Myrna Lannon." _Myrna Lannon _"What's your name, sweetie?"

"Beyond Birthday."

Before long he was reading the names on his own. And if he got strange looks when asking names, he got horrified looks from knowing them already. With his strange red eyes, looking knowingly up at the stranger, he was truly frightening. His mother was at a complete loss. Why was this child so strange? How was it that he knew things before he was told, in particular, names? She had pulled her son aside one day, confronting him, asking in her calm voice why he knew such things. Beyond couldn't answer. He didn't know why. He had no idea why he had been born with this strange vision that enabled him to know things he shouldn't. He didn't know why he was three and could read as fluently as any ten-year-old. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Or even why it was wrong at all.

Sometimes it scared him. All those unanswered questions that no one seemed to understand. They gave him nightmares, the names, highlighted in scarlet, and the numbers, running, dripping down his face like blood. His mother tired to comfort him, but she didn't know what to do. What could a mother do when the nightmares that tormented her child at night came from something that followed him everywhere, like a horrible black cloud? She tried her hardiest to help, but she never really could, especially when bigger problems loomed over the small household.

Alexa Birthday was such a soft spoken young women. She was shy, quiet, and exceptionally good at hiding things. Her feelings, things that happened to her, her voice, everything and that was really her downfall. She was an easy victim for someone like her husband. She never complained, never argued, even when the man came home at midnight, alcohol pulsing though his bloodstream, and beat her so hard she could hardly move the next morning, she never said a single word against him. Lyle worked hard, she argued to herself, he did love her, and their son, he was just going through a hard time. He was stressed out, she deserved it, it was just the alcohol that made him do it. All such poor excuses.

Every evening was the same. Lyle would come home from work at five, change, lounge in front of the TV until about seven, then he would head for The Red Cow just down the road from their small Reading flat. Beyond would then take over the TV until his mother wrestled him into the bath and at eight thirty, he was tucked in bed. Alexa would read him a story in her quiet, hushed voice and bid him sweet dreams before turning out the lights, but he never fell asleep. Every night, Beyond forced his small, exhausted body to stay awake until he heard it. The heavy step of boots on the landing, the jungle and muttered curses of keys dropped from drunk hands. The boy's heartbeat would race and his breath quicken, preparing his mind for what always came next.

A crash, the sound of flesh thrown against furniture. Her screams were always muted, it sounded as if he covered he mouth to stop the neighbors from knowing, but Beyond knew better, the scream was covered by her own hand. It would last for what seemed like years and years, his muscles would begin to ache from the tension, but he never once let himself relax. He sometimes wondered himself why he forced himself to stay up and listen to it. It would be so much easier just to sleep, the nightmares that haunted him in his mind didn't scare him nearly as bad as the ones in real life, but he always stayed up, for only one reason. After an immeasurable amount of time passed, the horrible sounds would abruptly stop. There would be the sound of shuffling feet, someone dragging something heavy, then, finally, an eerie silence. He waited for several minutes after the silence descended over the house then he would throw his covers back and touch the worn carpet with his small bare feet. With out braking the sheet of silence, Beyond would creep out of his room, passing his father unconscious on the couch and slip though his mother's partially open door, closing it shut behind him. Then he would cautiously tip-toe up to his parent's bed and snake though the covers until he was laying right beside his mother, her face stained with blood and tears. Beyond's unnatural red eyes would scrutinize her thoroughly. She lied so still it was almost frightening, as if she was so reserved her sleeping form buried her very life deep within her. Afraid of what would it would reveal, Beyond would stretch out his small hand and press it against the woman's often bruised chest. There, beneath the broken skin and spirit of his mother, her heart still beat. The young child would smile then finally drift to sleep.

During the days, when Lyle was at work, things were more as they should be. More normal. Beyond would spend the days at home with his mother, playing with the few toys he owned or watching television. His mother would always be doing some sort of house work, keeping things clean. If things were finished early, they would sometimes even play a game together. However, the terrors of the night always remained, weather it was a broken vase, a newly purpled black eye on Alexa's face, or a slight limp in her step. What ever it was, it was always there.

It angered the young Beyond to see how naive and stupid everyone was. Alexa's blond-haired older sister, Allison, was happily oblivious to her sister's plight. She hardly even reared her head anyway, with her twin sons only a year older then Beyond, she argued that she was too busy to come over. Beyond stubbornly refused to believe her. She just didn't _want_ to come over. And the neighbors, the stupid idiots above and beside them. They had to hear the crashes every night, but they did nothing. Why? His young mind couldn't understand why no one would help his mother. Why they all seemed perfectly content to ignore it, until the problem went away.

The early September day was warm, with summer still hanging on by it's final threads. Beyond was five years old and in only four days, on the sixth, he would be going into his very first year of primary school. Like any child at that threshold of new beginnings, Beyond was excited. He could hardly wait. His mind was just begging to soak up more knowledge and now that he was about to attend school, his possibilities were endless. Nothing could stand in his way and deny him his desire to know _everything_. He knew with an arrogant, child-like confidence, that he was going to soar far above the others and be the best student of knowledge that Katesgrove Primary School had ever seen.

"Beyond, sweetie, please stop running about. You will dirty your uniform. If you want to play, take it off first." Alexa asked as the child raced passed her on his one-person race from one end of the flat to the next. The boy stopped and turned around to look at his mother, standing in front of the kitchen counter, glancing over at him every few seconds as she chopped vegetables on a cutting board. He didn't want to take off his uniform, but he didn't want to make it dirty ether. His head turned downward to the royal blue sweater that covered the plain white polo he wore beneath. Carefully, his little hands smoothed it over, erasing the wrinkles that had formed while he had been playing.

"Can I keep it on if I sit quietly, mummy?" He asked, looking back up at his mother. There was a moment of silence as she contemplated her answer. In the end she looked over at her son in his new blue sweater and long black trousers. His freshly-cut auburn hair fell just short of falling over his strange eyes. When he was born the doctors didn't know what to make of them. They dismissed it as a simple blip in his genetic code after they couldn't figure out if it was a symptom of a disease. The strange color didn't seem to affect his vision at all, in fact, he seemed to have extremely good eye sight, far above the average person. Alexia had made sure to take him to the eye doctor often, to make sure no problems developed, but they never did.

"Well, yes. For now, but please take it off before dinner. I don't want you to accidently spill something on it, alright?" The boy grinned at his mother's answer and immediately parked himself on the couch in front of the TV, watching it's screen intently as if he had been sitting there for hours. "Don't get too wrapped up in anything, your father is going to be home before too long." Beyond shrugged his shoulders. He would just watch what ever his father decided to watch when he came, but until then, there was a few more minutes of Doctor Who to steal.

Out of the corner of his eye, Beyond spotted a car drive up and park in front of the house. He recognized the old silver car immediately. "Dad's home." He announced to his mother in the kitchen. The sound of her methodical chopping hesitated for a moment before continuing at an even more furious pace. Beyond twisted his head around to watch as his father pushed open the door and walked in without a word.

"Hi Dad." The boy greeted as his father kicked off his boots and circled around the couch to the television, changing the channel from the celery-wearing time lord to the BBC news. He didn't reply to his son's greeting, but Beyond was not put off. He might not care for his father much, but that would not stop the five-year-old from voicing his excitement about his brand new uniform.

"Look what mum and I went out and got, Dad." The boy proclaimed with a grin as je jumped off the couch to show off his school cloths. Lyle's eyes shifted to the side, looking him up and down.

"She got your hair cut too." He observed shortly, turning his eyes back to the television. Beyond's grin widened.

" Yeah! We also got my book bag and all my school supplies! I can't get those out until the sixth, though, I don't wand to break anything." He said, hopping back on the couch. "I'm really excited…"

"That much is clear." His father stated without looking at his son. Beyond swung his legs back and forth as he sat on the very edge of his seat next to his father. He could hear his mother's cooking sizzling as it fried in the kitchen. It wasn't loud enough to drown out the anchorwoman's daily news report, however, and she continued on. As brilliant as Beyond was, he was still only five years old and the events of the world had yet to really matter to him. It wasn't very long before his eyes began to wander. He watched out the window at the cars passing by for a while, but that soon bored him. Looking around, he leaned forward a bit to catch a glimpse of his mother, rushing to get everything done on time at the right time. Then his eyes settled on his father.

He wasn't exactly a large man, but he certainly wasn't scrawny, like Beyond and his mother. His head was roundish with a very pronounced chin and a mop of graying dirty blond hair atop his head. If it hadn't been for the unkempt, slack-jaw look of alcoholism, he would've been quite handsome. Beyond himself mostly took after his mother, but his nose was more like his dad's, as well as his thin lips. His gaze traveled upward, just above his head, to the name and numbers hovering there, as if each one was suspended on an invisible string. The name was the same as it had always been, _Lyle Birthday_. Although his mother said her last name was the same as his, the name above her head read _Alexia Rames_. Rames was also the name he saw above his granddad, so he supposed he only saw the names of women before they were married. Their birth name.

Below the name, hovered those mysterious numbers. Ever present, never changing. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why they were there, what they meant. All he knew about them was that, like the names, they never changed and everyone's was different. Some had more numbers then others, some had less, but they all had at least seven. Perhaps they meant nothing, but something told him they were important, something he needed to figure out. As he thought, he hardly even realized that he had begun to speak, reading out the numbers that no one but he could see.

"Eight… three… nine…" Beyond said quietly, eyes locked above his father's head. Lyle turned at the sound of his voice, eyeing his son strangely. "Two… two… three… five… fiv-"

"What the bloody hell are you on about?" His father barked, causing Beyond to jump a bit and turn his eyes down to look into Lyle's. They boy was quiet for a while as if contemplating weather or to to say anything. Finally, he pointed at the numbers above his father's head.

"The numbers, Dad. I was reading yours." _83922355. _Perhaps they meant something to him, but, judging by the look on his father's face, probably not.

"Cor blimey- There are no bleeding numbers!" Lyle scoffed. The look on his eyes was one of disgust, as if Beyond was little more then an unsavory piece of decor. "Will you stop going on about them? Gawd… bloody stupid kid…" With a scowl on the older man's face, he turned back to the BBC anchor woman. Beyond sat completely still, frozen by his dad's words. It wasn't the first time this had happened, his father scolding him for seeing things that weren't supposed to be there, but he had never _ever_ called him stupid before.

Tears began to well up in his red eyes. Wiping at them with his small fists, he sprang down from the couch and ran into his room, slamming the door behind him. _It wasn't fair! _He thought as landed face down on his bed. Why could no one else see them? What gave him this horrible ability to see the names and numbers of every single person his eyes fell on? He couldn't even look at photographs without seeing them, hovering there, mocking him. Was it his red eyes? Were they the cause? They had to be, but he figured that out ages ago, he still didn't understand _why_. Why could he see them? What did he do to deserve this?

Lifting his head off his pillow he turned his head to gaze across the room where his tear-stained reflection stared back at him. _Beyond Birthday_ hovered just above his head, but there were no numbers to be seen. His refection was the only one he had ever seen without them. He didn't know why that was ether. He didn't know _any_thing about his strange gift. The boys head fell back to his pillow. He didn't want to see them anymore. He wanted to be like everyone else, free of the names and numbers. What he wouldn't give to live without them.

He had no idea how long he laid there, crying quietly into his pillow. At one point he got up and changed out of his uniform. No matter how upset he was, he still didn't want to soil it with tears. After he had resumed his position face down on his pillow, there was a timid knock on the door. He didn't answer, but it opened anyway, his mother stepping in with a tray of food. Silently she walked over to his bedside and sat down. Beyond lifted his head just enough so he could twist it around to look at smiled sadly at him, then looked down at the tray of food on her lap.

"I thought you were probably hungry. Your father's already gone out… He-"

"Yeah…" Beyond interrupted his mother quietly. "I heard." With a small hiccup, he sat himself upright and crisscrossed his legs, roughly wiping away the tears that still cling to the corners of his eyes. Alexia watched him sadly, the hurt and pain she felt for him clear in her eyes.

"I am so sorry he said those things to you, Beyond." She apologized for her husband. Her son turned his head to the side and looked up at her though the corner of his eyes. With a quiet sigh, she continued. "He didn't mean them. You know your father loves you very much. He is very proud of you." In response, Beyond turned his head back down to stare at his crossed legs.

"I know, mummy." He answered, but he didn't believe it. It was hard to think that his father actually cared about ether of them, but his mother, as horrible as he was to her, seemed to hold on to that hope that he really would move about it one day. Beyond had given that up a long time ago.

Standing, his mother lifted the tray and set it on his lap, interfering the view of his legs with a bowl of stew, buttered bread, and a glass of milk. The boy stared down at it blankly, feeling the concerned gaze of his mother upon him. However, if something was on her mind, she didn't voice it.

"When your done, just put the tray on the kitchen counter, alright?" She said, taking a few steps toward the door of his room. Her son nodded silently. "I love you."

"I love you too, mummy." There was a quiet pause before his bedroom door squeaked closed. Ir was only then that Beyond raised his head too look at the closed door through which his mother had vanished. He knew his mother tried to comfort him, but it was difficult to do that when she didn't actually believe he saw them ether. He could see it in her eyes when he mentioned them. She didn't believe a word of it.

The evening passed quickly and silently, like a bird racing though the air. Beyond hid in his room most of the night, only coming out to return the tray when he had finished eating. Even though it wasn't her fault, he was more upset at his mother then his dad. He was tired of her apologizing for him and never saying anything against him. She couldn't even admit that what he said was wrong and horrible. It was as if she was afraid of him even when he wasn't there. Couldn't she just admit that he was an awful person? Just once he wanted her to say it, but she never did.

His thoughts circled around him as he laid in bed, pretending to sleep like he did every night, waiting for his father to come home. In only three days now he would be going to school. No matter what happened around him at home, he couldn't help by feel excited for that. He would get to meet people his own age, something he had never really done before and perhaps, just perhaps, he would meet someone else with vision like his own. The hope was unlikely, but he held onto it just the same. The thought of coming across something who shared his ability would be wonderful. He would finally be able to prove that there _were_ names and numbers and he wasn't the only one that could see them. The thought was so absurd and unlikely that only a five-year old could believe it.

Hours ticked by as he envisioned his future and before long he felt his eyes prickling with exhaustion. Somewhat confused, he turned his head to look at the clock on his bedside table. It's digital numbers read 3:05. Beyond's eyes widened in shock. Three in the morning? How could it be that late? His father hadn't even come home yet and he was never home after one. Perhaps during his visions of school he had fallen asleep by accident and missed him.

Without a moment's hesitation, Beyond through back his covers and climbed out of bed. He had to restrain himself to keep from running out of his door and into his mother's room, just to make sure she was alright, but when he peered though his door and into the living room, a figure was sitting on the couch. His mother, staring blankly out the window, still waiting for her husband's figure to appear on the other side as he arrived back from the pub.

"Mummy?" Beyond voiced quietly, fearful of the abrupt change in their nightly pattern. The woman started violently, her head whiplashing around to look at her son, half his face peaking out of his open doorway. Her face softened and she saw the confusion in his eyes.

"Beyond, what are you doing up?" She asked, he voice merely a whisper. "Did you have another nightmare?" Not entirely sure how to explain the truth, Beyond nodded slowly. She had always thought it was nightmares that drove him to her bed every night, and, in a way, it was. He pulled himself out from behind the wall and walked up to his mother. Her face grew fearful. "No, sweetie, why don't you just go to bed. Please." She was afraid that any moment Lyle would return and then Beyond would be caught in the middle of the violence. The boy's lower lip quivered as he stood in front of his mother, curled up on the couch, his eyes pleading. He was scared now, far too afraid to go and lie back in the lonely darkness, and he wasn't sure why.

"Please, mummy, I want to be with you." He begged, nearing tears again. Alexia's face contorted with sorrow and fear for her son, but in the end she gave in to his frightened face.

"Alright, come here." She sighed, opening her arms. Immediately, he climbed up on the couch and curled up against his mother, laying his head on her chest. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, as if she was afraid he would slip away if she were to let go. "As soon as your father comes I want you to go to your room right away and no mater what you hear, don't come out. Okay? Promise me?" She whispered, her voice laced with anxiety.

"I promise, mummy." He responded, closing his eyes. He could hear her heartbeat, thumping against his ear. The steady rhythm comforted him in a way that no words ever could. Just the simple, basic knowledge that his mother was _alive_ meant more to him than anything. The warm arms she wrapped around him showed that she loved him, despite the color of his eyes and all his strange quirks and that was all he wanted. He hoped that his heartbeat and his love meant just as much to her as her's did to him, but he knew it did. She needed him just as much as he needed her and no matter what his father said or did, it would never sever that connection.

"Mummy?" Beyond asked in a whisper, the warmth and safety of her embrace nearly lulling him to sleep.

"What, sweetie?"

"Why hasn't Dad come home yet?" There was a long silence before his mother's muttered response.

"I don't know." She responded, he voice hard to read, a mix of fear, sadness, and a wall of hidden feelings. Beyond said nothing more. He silently hoped his father never would come home, because he didn't want to leave her. Ever. He would never leave her. One day, when he was bigger, he would make his dad pay for all the horrid things he did. The he and him mother would be free and happy. A smile spread across his lips as he thought of it. The smile slowly faded as his mind slipped into the darkness of sleep.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._ Beyond's eyes slowly opened and a small groan escaped him as his sleep was interrupted by such a harsh sound. Was dad finally home? No, he had a key. Unless he lost it again. As his eyes focused, he saw the light of morning streaming though the windows, illuminating the house. It was morning? But he was still on the couch and his mother's arms were still wrapped protectively around him. He twisted his head around to look at his mother's face. Her eyelids were draped closed over her hazel eyes and her face relaxed in a way that could only be done during the deepest staged of sleep.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._ There was that sound again. Beyond's head spun around to look at the front door. Someone was here. His eyes flickered to the window. A car was parked in front of there house right beside their own beat up silver thing. It was white and had a long stripe of orange across it with the word 'POLICE' written across it in navy blue. The police? Why were they here?

_KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. _Whatever the reason for their visit, they were growing impatient. He was far too frightened to answer the door himself. Like most children his age, the police scared him. Beyond slipped out of his mother's arms and gently shook her shoulders in an attempt to wake her.

"Mummy! Mummy, wake up!" He said as he shook. The woman jumped in surprise at being awoken the way she was and jumped again when she noticed that it was morning and she and her son had fallen asleep on the couch.

"Morning… but… what… what is it, Beyond?" She stopped her wondering aloud when she noticed her son was still shaking her.

"Some one's here." He stated, sitting back on his legs. His mother seemed frozen for a moment, still not entirely awake. She looked at him with confusion before the fourth trio of knocks rocketed her to reality.

_KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. _"Oh! Um… one moment!" She called out, her naturally soft voice sounding odd at such a volume. Beyond watched from his spot on the couch as she quickly stood and dashed into her room, emerging moments later with a bathrobe covering her nightclothes. He shaking hand quickly unlocked the door and opened it. Her body went rigged when she saw the two uniformed police men stand on the front landing.

"Um… may I help you?" She asked quietly, eyes flickering between the two. Beyond, unsatisfied with simply watching the scene play out from there, jumped down from the couch and ran around, attaching himself to his mother's leg. The sudden impact caused her leg to bend inward slightly and she swayed, but didn't loose her balance.

When she had opened the door, the two men had turned toward her and removed their caps. They both simultaneously turned their heads downward to look at the young boy staring up at them. The men exchanged glances before looking back at the somewhat confused and frightened woman in the door way.

"Mrs… Birthday, is it?" One asked.

"Yes… that's me." Alexa answered, eyes still shifting between the two men on her doorstep. They exchanged glanced again. The one who had spoken sighed, as if he truly did not want to say what he had to.

"I am terribly sorry to have to tell you this, but your husband, Lyle Birthday, was found this morning… dead." The reaction was instant. Alexa inhaled sharply as if the man had physically struck her. Using one arm she placed it on the doorway for support, she other, she placed over her son's head. Beyond's eyes had widened to the size of saucers.

"He appeared to have been beaten to death at about midnight. We are doing our best to track down the murderers." The other man spoke, his voice holding a streak of determination. When Alexa said nothing, her horrified eyes locked on the floor, his voice softened. "We are truly sorry for your loss. We will do our very best to find the persons responsible and put them to justice." She only nodded slightly in response.

"Thank you…" She choked out weakly. Taking a step back, she carefully shut their painted blue door on the police men. Beyond released his grip on his mother's legs and looked up at her. She was still standing there, the look of utter shock frozen upon her face. It was so sudden, Beyond didn't know if he should feel happy or sad. His dad was really… gone? Dead? The irony was almost too much to handle. The man that senselessly beat his wife every night was beaten to death himself.

Although they boy felt a weight lift of his narrow shoulders at the news, he also felt a new weight dragging him down again. His dad was _dead_. What would they do now? He and his mom were alone. They needed to get money, right? How would they do that with Dad gone? Everything was changing so fast, so suddenly. What were they going to do?

* * *

><p>Wheel of Fortune<br>The Wheel of Fortune is all about luck and change. The wheel symbolizes completeness as well as the rise and fall of fortunes and the message that what goes around comes around. Almost every definition of this card indicates abundance, happiness, elevation, or luck; a change that just happens, and brings with it great change.

**Author's Note: **Bet you didn't expect this after that super short prologue did ya? I actualy had to do a Paolini and split this chapter in half because I noticed I was at 5000 words and I wasn't even half-way done. So what WAS going to be The Tower became Wheel of Fortune. The Tower is the next chapter.

Now, before you all flame me, yes I AM aware that there is a Death Note rule stating that "You can not physically tell who has the shinigami eyes" HOWEVER Beyond isn't exactly a textbook case, is he now? I reason that because the eyes came to him when his actual eyes were still developing, it somewhat mutated them. So, in a way, the doctors were correct, it WAS just a blip in his genetic code. And I wanted to give him those pretty red eyes ^_^ (as for Naomi not noticing the red eyes in the book, contacts, my friend, contacts.)

Awww. Isn't Beyond so sweet and innocent? All excited about school and attached to his 'mummy'. He's just so CUTE! Don't worry. It won't last. He just about looses all of his innocence in the next chapter. Then he'll start becoming closer to that phyco jam-loving madman we all know and love!

Doctor Who reference? Hell Yes.

Sorry about the ending. I really wasn't sure what to do with it. It was late, I was tired, and I wanted it done.

And last, but not least. I chose the Wheel of Fortune card for this chapter because "what goes around comes around". Karma is a b***h and Lyle deserved every single thing that came at him.

Please **R&R** Comments make me write faster! :D

_**Another Note: Ishin Nishio**_  
><em><strong>Death Note: Tsugumi Ohba<strong>_  
><em><strong>Beyond Being: Piper Lynn<strong>_


	3. II: The Tower

**The Tower**

He remembered very little of the few days after his father died. They were blurred together in Beyond's mind, like cars on the freeway. People came to him and his mother, muttering empty condolences and fading away again, like ashes blown in the breeze. Relatives, friends, so they called themselves. So many people, but so few had any meaning. Just trying to be apart of the drama. Vultures, feeding off sorrow, drawn to the stench of despair and shock.

Beyond stuck closer to his mother then ever before and she clung to him like a support, like he was the only thing keeping her husband from dragging her down into the darkness with him. Nights were the worst and the best. They would replay the night he didn't come home, like some ghostly performance, their feet following some otherworldly instructions. Beyond would pull himself out of bed late into the night and peer around the corner, into the living room, and there she would be, without fail. Staring out the window, silent tears glimmering in her eyes like little stars.

It was… funny. He had thought she would be happy. He wasn't there to hurt her any more. She could sleep without fear and pain and never again have to look at the future with bleak eyes. Yet, she morned him. She did not scream and cry, never throwing herself on the floor, begging every god know to man to bring him back. She morned in her strangely quiet way, with no more then a whisper in anguish, but it was far deeper then any cry of anguish. The wounds that man had inflicted on her, Beyond later realized, ran far deeper then merely physical. Every strike, every bruise, every cut, pierced her heart with a new needle that lingered long after the wound healed. The needles took the form of fear and inadequacy, burying themselves deep into her being until she forgot what life was without them. Then, in one fell swoop, they were gone, all the needles puled out and thrown away. The freedom caused her more pain then could be imagined.

Quietly, he would go up to her, climbing on the couch beside her. Looking up at her with his strange, knowing eyes, so innocent, yet understanding, he would wipe the tears away with his small thumb and place it on his lips, tasking the salty bitterness of his mother's sorrow. As if, perhaps, he could steel some of it away from her and hide it, so she could be happy again. She would smile weakly at his childish action and wrap her thin arms around him, pulling him closer to her, holding on to him with every last bit of love she had. It was all they had now, each other. In truth, it was all they ever had.

The funeral was scheduled on the seventh, what was supposed to be Beyond's second day of school. He would miss it and the first day and go on the eighth instead. The headmaster was perfectly understanding and actually offered to let the boy take the rest of the week off, but Beyond stubbornly refused. The last thing he wanted to do was miss all that school, there were tears enough over the missing the first and second day, but it was for the best, to give both him and his mother time to work everything out.

The murderers were found without much trouble. Two thugs had gained up on him, the motives having something to do with money or revenge, some trivial reason that mattered so little. They thought they would just beat on his a little, to scare him into submission, but one got a little too carried away, snapping his neck and killing him without a struggle. They thought he was just unconscious, but they were very much mistaken. After clearing off with what little money he had, they didn't even attempt to hide. The police found them the same day Lyle's body was discovered.

The trial was short and absolute, but even though the killers were caught, it failed to bring Beyond or Alexa any solace. While the people who killed Lyle were now a disgrace in the eyes of the public, the world was still so blind to the atrocities of the dead man himself. It was sickening the way the prosecutor painted the man to gain the jury's pity. Beyond wanted to leave almost five minutes into it, reading the look of pain on his mother's face in an entirely different way then how the jury saw it. However, his mother stayed, bearing the pain just as she had so many times, hiding the true souse of her sorrow from everyone. Everyone but her observant son, clever enough to see past the charade.

Even with the sickening trial behind them, there was still so much to worry about. Alexa had no job and no way to earn money. She had not gone on to collage after graduating secondary school, depending on Lyle for means on which to live. Their life at 74 Southampton street seemed to be drawing to a close. In truth, Beyond was happy to see it that way. The flat was filled with ghosts of the past, relentlessly haunting them, crawling into Beyond's nightly visions of horror and keeping his mother from sleeping at all. However, they had no place to go. Both sets of his grandparents were dead and Lyle had no relatives that could, or would, help them. Their only option was Allison, however, she was a single mother with twins. Alexa didn't want to burden her with two more loads. However, her sister had other plans.

Unlike Alexa, Allison had spirit and was very pushy. As if attempting to make up for her apathetic attitude during her sister's marriage, she insisted both Alexa and her son move into their three bedroom house on the river. They had no choice in the matter, really. It was ether that or face homelessness within the month. Lyle wasn't very punctual on payments, only bothering to fork over the money when their land lord was on the verge of throwing them out. It still took a great deal of persuasion on Allison's part however, but in the end, Alexa agreed.

On the fifth, the day after the trial, Beyond and his mother said goodbye to their old flat and all the memories haunting it's walls. It was easier for him to leave it behind then it was for his mother. She struggled with the idea of leaving the place where so much had happened to her. After the few things that they could take with them had been loaded into there's and Allison's cars, she stood, seemingly lost, in front of the door to the flat. Her long auburn hair flowing gracefully down her back, moving only slightly as the autumn wind moved though the nearly enclosed street. She looked so venerable there, if the breeze grew any stronger, it would carry her away with it, forever lost on it's cold breath. Only when Beyond came up to her and took her hand did the woman go to the car. No words ever seemed to be needed between them. It was always just the touch of a warm hand or a hug when it was most needed, simply things, but more powerful then anything.

Their new home was at 26 Elgar Road, right along the river. It was much nicer then their flat. Allison had been lucky in her divorce with her ex-husband, of course, having full custody of the twins certainly helped her case. Blake and Jay were they boy's names. They were both six years old and completely identical in every way, down to the last mole. Beyond had never really met them before, apparently he had only seen them when he was about nine months, and he had no idea what to expect. Children around his own age were a mystery to him, having little to no experience around them. However, if he expected the twins to be like him in any way, he was sorely mistaken.

When he first arrived, Beyond was met with cold glares from both boys. Blake had to give up his room and join Jay so that Beyond could have a place to sleep. They were not happy that this new mummy's boy was invading their space. Not to mention, he was so strange, with his red eyes and mature actions far beyond his age. There was no doubt in their minds. This boy was an intruder and would be treated as such. If it were up to them, they would've given him the cold shoulder all day, but their mother snapped them back into shape by threatening a grounding unless they behaved. It was only after that that they methodically greeted the boy.

Beyond really was fine with their snubbing. Although they were a year older, they seemed so immature. Were all children his age like that? He truly hoped they weren't or else school wasn't going to be as wonderful as he had imagined it. Spending most of the day shut up in his new room, he set up the few possessions he had. Blake's old room was in the back of the house, the window overlooking the river and the small backyard. There was a wooden structure lining the bank of the river so small boats could dock. Perhaps he and his mother could go swimming when summer rolled around again. The thought made him smile to himself.

The room itself wasn't big, but he liked it. It was cozy and had a small desk right under the window so when he was working on his homework when he started school, he could watch the river drift idly by. It was calming and truly nice. He found he liked it. His eyes flickered to the ceiling above him. The floor above contained his mother's and his aunt's room. They would be sharing Allison's bed together which could easily fit the two petite women. It was the largest room in the house, the only one that could fit a double bed. Across the landing was the second largest bedroom where his cousin's room was located. Judging by the glances he had got inside, it was a disaster zone. Beyond, as an only child, was very neat, almost obsessively so and the sight of a room like theirs made him cringe inwardly. Below his feet was the ground floor where the lounge, kitchen, bathroom and dining room were located and also the entrance to the back garden. Beyond wished more then anything that it was just him and his mother living here, then it would be perfect, like what he imagined a good dream would be.

"Where is your boy? It's almost time to go… Beyond!" Allison grabbed the rails of the spiral stair leading up to the first floor and leaned forward so her voice would carry up to where the boy was hiding in his room. "Beyond! Were going to be late!" Beyond's head turned away from the window and focused instead on the door which his aunt's voice had penetrated like a knife though butter. Not wanting to hear her yell any more, he snatched the letter he had written in his clumsy, childish hand and climbed off his desk chair, landing his feet on the floor.

He felt so stiff in the black suit he wore, the little blue tie around his neck nearly choking the life out of him. It was uncomfortable and he hated it, but he didn't have anything else that was really appropriate to wear at his father's funeral. Actually, the suit wasn't even his. It had once been Blake's, or Jay's, they both had one, sent to them by their father who was currently somewhere in New York, but they had outgrown them quickly. It was a little big for Beyond's small frame, but his aunt had fixed it up with a bit of personal tailoring. Now the pants didn't trip him every time he tried to take a step, but the blazer was still just a bit long. That he would have to live with.

Another piercing shout form his aunt caused him to jump and quickly evacuate his bedroom. Shyly he climbed down the stairs, his dress shoes clicking on the stairs with every step. Allison leaned back and smiled at him through her thick layers of make-up that hid the stress of raising twin boys. Behind her stood his mother, her simple black dress covering her body all the way down to her feet. She looked hauntingly beautiful, the hem of the dress just barely touching the ground and her hair pined up tightly to her head. She raised her head up and smiled weakly at him.

"You look very handsome, Beyond." She said softly. The boy beamed with pride. Maybe this suit wasn't so bad after all. Walking up to her, he took her hand in his and tugged on it. Responding, Alexa knelt down to his level a look of curiosity on her face. With out a word, Beyond reached around and pulled out the pins that held her hair so tightly to her head. It tumbled down, free from it's restraints.

"You look better with it down." He said very mater-of-factly. He hated the way she wore her hair up, it made her look restrained, trapped. Now, however, she was free and in his strange boyish way, he knew that her hair needed to reflect that.

"Mum! I don't see why _he_ gets to skip school and we still have to go." A voice whined from the couch. All three of them looked over to see one of the twins, Beyond's vision reviling the name _Blake Gragg_ hovering over his head, leaning over the back of the couch, his knees up on the cushions. The very top of the other twin's could just barely be seen over the top of the couch. Allison raised her eye brows at Blake.

"You _both_ need to go to school, that's why. And also you don't have any appropriate cloths. AND we are going to a very somber gathering. I don't want to have to worry about you two hellions doing something your not supposed to. Now grab your things and get in the car, I don't want to hear another word of it." With a groan, the two obeyed their mother, grabbing their book bags and racing each other our the door. Sighing, Allison turned back to Beyond and Alexa.

"Are you ready?" She asked gently. Alexa stood up again and nodded, wrapping her arm around Beyond. "Then lets go."

The drive to the viewing was short. Dropping off the twins at school was only a short detour and before much time had passed, they were parked and climbing out of the car in front of the funeral home. Looking up at the ornate building, Beyond wanted to turn and leave more then anything else. It seemed to loom over them in a forbidding way, killing all hope and happiness in the simple structure of it. Leaning on his mother for support and clutching the letter he had written to his chest, they walked though the doors, passing out of the sun and into the shadow.

Few people were there. Two of Lyle's brother's had made it, his Beyond's great aunt and her daughter, a few of his father's friends from work, but no one else. Even outside of the house, he had not been well liked. It was obvious his brother's only showed because they felt the ghost of their mother would haunt them if they didn't and his co-worker's were just there out of respect. The only one who truly seemed to be mourning the dead man in a normal way was Beyond's great aunt_ Janel Birthday_. He had never met her before, but Lyle had clearly been the old woman's favorite of her brother's children. If she wasn't sobbing in her daughter's shoulder, she was scolding her two live nephews for not being more like the dead one.

"Why couldn't have you been just like him? You both are so horrible!" Beyond heard the woman say to the men sitting in front of her just as they walked in. One of them, _Neal Birthday_, spun around in his chair to face his aunt.

"So you want us to be dead, then?" He asked, face set. The older woman popped him across the head.

"You awful, _naughty_ boy!" She scolded, then buried herself in her daughter's shoulder. If Beyond didn't have such a strong pit of dread in his stomach, he would've snorted with laughter at the comical sight.

As they took their seats at the first row, directly in front of the four men from Lyle's workplace, Beyond's attention was directed to the open coffin at the front of the room. He involuntary swallowed. He had never seen a dead person before, except of television, but watching it on a screen and seeing it in real life was so much different. Especially for him.

He knew that when he went up there with his mother he would look at his father's face, the name and number that had always hovered above the man's head would be gone, vanished, because, for whatever reason, he never saw the names and numbers of the dead. He remembered the day he learned that crystal clear in his mind. He had been playing and happened to glance at a photograph of his grandparents with his mother. His grandmother's name and number was gone. Moments later Alexa came in, tears shining in her eyes to say that her mother had a stoke and died. Every day, it seemed, he was learning more and more about his eyes, perhaps soon he would solve the mystery of the numbers. Then, maybe, he would finally understand them fully.

A shadow falling over him jerked him from his thoughts. He looked up to see his great aunt and her daughter towering over him and his mother. Beyond watched as the elderly woman gave her heartfelt condolences. Alexa stood, hand's clasped in front of her, listening to the words she gave out, the sickly honey-like lies. Beyond wanted her to be quiet. To stop talking. Why did she find it necessary to talk so much. His mother didn't want to talk, it was so painfully obvious. She wanted to be left _alone_, not forced to listen to a blind woman ramble about how wonderful her husband was when in reality he had been a monster.

Beyond leapt out of his chair and did the only thing he could think of to get her away. He extended his arms and gave her a hard push with all the strength his five-year-old arms could muster. The old woman was cut short mid sentence as she was shoved to the side by the boy. The suddenness of it caught her by surprise and if it hadn't been for for her attentive daughter, she would've ended up on the floor.

Both Alexa and Allison gasped at Beyond's sudden forcefulness and stared at the boy standing between his mother and his still flustered aunt. All eyes were locked on them. Allison jumped out of her seat and grabbed Beyond's shoulders, spinning him around to face her, his red eyes still narrowed in ager at the woman he had just pushed.

"Why on _earth_ did you just do that?" She scolded in a harsh whisper, not wanted to cause too much of a scene. "That was extremely rude and there was absolutely no reason for it!"

"Yes there _was_! His small voice cried out, not bothering to keep their conversation quiet. "Mummy wanted her to go away!" Allison sighed.

"You can't make decisions for her, Be-"

"She _did_ want her to leave! I could _tell_!" His face suddenly softened and he looked up at his mother who's hand was still covering her mouth, grey eyes wide with shock. "Right mummy?"

Slowly, as if someone was forcing her by the shoulders, she sat back down in the chair, hand falling back to her side. Beyond freed himself from Allison's grip and walked over to his mother's seat, climbing nimbly up into her lap. He felt his mother's lips brush his ear as she whispered to him.

"Why did you do that?" She asked mirroring her sister's earlier question, but in a tone that wasn't angry, just questioning. He twisted his head around and cupped his hands around her ear, answering into the little tunnel he had made.

"Because she was hurting you."

There was apologizing on Beyond's behalf from both his mother and her sister, saying that his father's death was troubling him, he was tired, upset, hurt, all sorts of different excuses, most of them just that, excuses. However, his great aunt accepted them with out too much of a fuss, saying she understood how hard it must be for the boy to have lost such a wonderful father. Beyond had to resist the urge to vomit on the floor as he herd her say that. It was only his mother's slightly tightened embrace that kept him from shouting at her. This place was getting to him. It made him squirm and writhe uncomfortably on his mother's lap. He really really wanted it to be over. He wanted them to close the lid of that coffin and burry him already so they could move on and maybe even forget him, but first they had to go up there.

After a while of hearing only hushed conversations in the viewing room, Allison leaned over to speak quietly to her sister. "Are you ready to go up now?" She asked. Beyond twisted around to watch her reaction. Alexa looked over at Allison for a moment then closed her eyes and nodded.

After his mother taped him twice on the side, Beyond hopped down to the floor. Taking her hand, all three of them walked up to the front of the room. They were the last ones to go up, everyone else had shuffled up separately and now everyone watched at the people of interest took their turn. _Vultures_. Beyond thought, looking away from them.

Allison was first. She nodded down at the body in a simultaneous greeting and goodbye. She never really got to know Lyle very well so she didn't have much to let go of, only the guilt of not being there for her sister when she needed her the most. She shuffled to the side to let Alexia and Beyond move to the front, then crossed around to her nephew's side, lifting him up in her arms. Beyond didn't object, his red eyes locked on the body of his father laying in the pillowed coffin below him.

He looked so unnatural, laying there, in a formal cloths, hair neatly combed back. The makeup coating his face, hiding the marks from the beating that had killed him, was obvious. It made his face look like it was coated in a layer of paste. What was unsettling was how still he was. Whenever Beyond had seen him sleeping he was moving in someway. His mouth moving in a silent response to a dream or kicking his legs out at some attempt to fight something off, somehow, he was always moving, but the man before him now was so still. In a way, it didn't feel like his father, especially since he didn't see what he had seen above his dad since the day he was born. _Lyle Birthday 83922355_. Just like it had been with his grandmother, they were gone, but while he didn't remember hers, he felt his would stay with him forever.

He looked down at his hands where his crinkled letter was held. He stretched out his arm and leaned forward to lay it in the casket beside his father. It landed beside his hands, resting on his still chest. Looking over, Beyond saw his mother, staring down at her husband, her face blank and stoic, like she wasn't sure how to feel, or weather to feel at all. Her eyes were glossy, on the verge of tears, but none left her or even seemed able to. Setting Beyond back on the floor, Allison put a comforting arm around her sister and gently led her back to her seat. He followed closely, climbing back up into his mother's lap the moment she sat down again.

Very soon afterword, a man entered the room from the side. He wore a simple, respectful black and looked very clean cut. Standing in front of the podium set to the side of the room he shuffled some papers and began to speak, delivering the eulogy with an air of somber sympathy that was completely put on. He spoke of Lyle with the same sort of praise that his aunt Janel had been giving before. Beyond only half listened, resting his head back on his mother's chest, listening to her heartbeat, slow and steady as it always was. The old comfort that would always be with him, he knew, because while people like his father come and go, the people you truly care about never die, because if they did, the world would end and spiral into misery.

Within five minuets of the man's speech, Beyond had fallen asleep. His mind swam though memories of his father. He had very few of them, and only a tiny handful of those were actually good. He just barely remembered his dad making him laugh one time. He was very young and he didn't remember what they were laughing at, but the it made him feel good. Most others were fussy. His hair ruffled playfully here or a compliment there. They swirled though his mind, shrouded in clouds. The memories shifted to ones of his mother. So many more of those were happy. They made him smile peacefully as his mind replayed them. Suddenly, the memories vanished and he was lost in absolute darkness, the names and numbers he saw ever day floating around him, mocking him, taunting him.

"Beyond…" They whispered, in a voice that sounded almost like his mother's, but had a sickening twist to it. They began to close in around him, surrounding him, leaving him with no way to escape. "Beyond…"

"No… go away!" He shouted, trying to fight them away with his arms, bit his attempts were fruitless. His flesh only passed through them like smoke.

"Beyond… Beyond… Beyond…"

Suddenly he jerked awake to see his mother's face looking down at him, a hand on his shoulder, shaking him to consciousness. He sat up to see where he was. Looking around he found he had been laying in the back of the car. Was it really all over? Were they home? No, they couldn't be, he concluded as he saw out the window. Gravestones covered the landscape as far as his eyes could see, trees planted here and there to make the place look less dark. They were at the cemetery. He turned his head back to his mother who was climbing out of the back seat where she had ridden with him. Crawling after her, he emerged from the car, blinking in the bright sunlight. In the distance, just a little ways from them, they could see the small gathering of people around one particular grave. The man who had spoken before was sharing more words of praise about the dead man, his voice floating over the silent graves. Beyond turned to his mother, confused.

"How long was I asleep?" He asked as they began walking back to the throng, Alexa's arm draped around his shoulders.

"Since the viewing. I came back to check on you and you were having a nightmare, so I woke you." She explained. Beyond nodded and looked back at the people.

"Are we going home soon?" He asked in a whisper. His mother's grip tightened ever so slightly around him.

"Yes."

They rejoined the group silently without any fuss. Only Allison smiled lightly down at Beyond, before turning somberly back to look at the speaker. The boy also turned his head to look at the man, he watched his mouth move, but the words didn't mean anything. It was the same stuff he had fallen asleep to in the viewing room. "Loved" "kind" "missed" were some of the words Beyond's ears picked out, but none of them seemed to describe his father. He was starting to think they had gone to the wrong funeral. However, as his eyes wandered to the grave stone that would mark the place where his father laid to rest, his name, Lyle Birthday, was etched there in stone. Even after his death, it seemed, the secret of his monstrosity would be hushed. Why were people so blind and stupid? He still didn't understand that. Why people turned their heads when the truth was so plain in front of them. Perhaps he would never understand that.

He studied the gravestone closer. It was somewhat plain and white, like many of the other graves around them. He noticed that there was not pointless engraving such as _In Loving Memory_ or _A Loving Father And Husband_. So, at least the empty words of praise would die on the air. Below his father's name was his birthdate and below that, the day he died. _2 September 1983_. Set forever, engraved in the cold white stone. The day that had changed his and his mother's life forever, for the best. Maybe, after a few years he and his mother could get there own house together and they could be so happy.

A number on the grave caught his eye. _1983_. That was this year, but he had also seen it abbreviated before. The 19 was removed and just left 83 to describe the year. _83_. His eyes shifted left and rested on the word September. That was the ninth month in the year, right after the month that had his birthday, August. _9_. Then, finally the day, the second. _2_. _83 9 2. _Those were the first four numbers that had once hovered over his father's head. It was so strange. Never before had he seen something that so matched up with someone's numbers. Still, it didn't explain the last four numbers, _2355. _He relaxed. He had felt chills run down down his spine when he saw how close his father's numbers corresponded with the ones on his grave. They were still a mystery. _83922355. 2355. 2 3 5 5. 23 55._ An electric shock of realization jolted though his body, rooting him to the ground.

"_He appeared to have been beaten to death at about midnight."_

The officer's voice echoed though his mind as his memory rocketed back four days ago when the police men appeared on their front step. It was the time. 23:55. _83 9 2 23 55. _Year, month, day, hour, minute. Time seemed to slow to a halt around Beyond, yet at the same time it accelerated to an unbearable speed. His eyes widened in horror, his strange red eyes which granted him the ability to see the names and numbers of every face he looked at. No, not just numbers anymore. _Death days_.

"Beyond… are you alright?" His mother's soft voice rocketed him out of his thoughts back into reality. The casket that held his father had been lowered down into the ground and the small group started to disperse. His head whipped around to look up at Alexa. Concern was clear on her face and above her face, Beyond found his eyes turned to her numbers. _8959921_. _89 5 9 921. 9 May 1989 9:21. _He stumbled back, away from her, fear shock and dread contorting his small face, tripping on a small bump in the ground and falling down. His mother looked truly frightened now. She took a step toward him, outstretching her hand to help him up.

"Come on, sweetheart… it's time to go." She said, her voice so soft and kind, but for the first time it didn't comfort him. _9 May 1989. _That was only six years from now. In six years would his mother really be dead? Would he really be looking down at her unnaturally still body laying in a coffin like his father? No! NO! It couldn't be! Scrambling up to his feet, he did the only thing his young panicked mind could think to do. He ran.

"Beyond! BEYOND!" He could hear his mother's desperate shouts behind him, but he didn't stop. He couldn't. Tears welled up in his eyes as he ran as hard as his legs would let him, dodging the many graves attempting to block his path. He ran away from the grave of his father and the gentle form of his living mother whose time was coming to close in only six short years. NO! He didn't want to know! It wasn't true! It couldn't be! It just couldn't. He

He cried out as his foot caught on the edge of a grave marker, causing him to fall forward, landing on his face. His tear-blurred eyes had stopped him from seeing the smooth grave in his path. Laying there he desperately wiped the tears out of his eyes with his fists, but there was just many and they wouldn't stop. They poured out on the grass covering the dead man's grave that he was laying on, curled up into a ball among the dead. Was that going to be his life? Was he, forever, going to know the very moment when the breath of everyone's life would leave them? Was he cursed to see the day they would all become like the corpses he was surrounded by? The thoughts birthed a new wave of sobs that he he emptied out onto the ground.

His eyes closed as he struggled to take another breath though his hysteria. It felt as if the knowledge was crushing him, squeezing the life out of him. He didn't want to know. He wished with all his might that he could erase the knowledge from his mind forever. He just didn't want to know anymore. He only wanted it to go away, to open his eyes again and see nothing hovering over his mother's head, or anyone else's. He never wanted to see it again. Never, ever, never! However deep inside, beyond his childish wishes and begging, he knew that he couldn't un-see what he had seen, or un-know what he had learned from the face of his father's grave.

It would stay with him forever.

* * *

><p>The Tower<br>The Tower is a card about war, a war between the structures of lies and the lightning flash of truth. This is a card about anything we believe to be true, but later learn is false. This realization usually comes as a shock, hence, the violent image. It is, quite simply, that moment in any story where someone finds out a shocking truth, one that shatters their perceptions and makes them reassess their beliefs.

_**Author's Note:**_Oh God... I'm about to cry... it made me so sad to write this. I found myself falling in love with my dear innocent Beyond. I didn't want to say goodbye to him. BOOHOOHOO!

Anyway. There it is. Beyond's shocking revelation. He didn't take it well obviously. In reality, I had him do what I would've done if I figured that out... God what a nightmare.

I've made Beyond such a mummy's boy it's a crime, but don't worry, he won't loose that. He is VERY attached to her and even as he slowly starts to loose it, he still loves her like he was still five, that is, until May 9th. Oh and keep in mind with the times of death, he IS in England and that is how they commonly read their time, hence the reason 5-year-old Beyond can figure it out. He might be brilliant, but figuring out that the time of death he saw was 24-hour time if he was raised on AM PM would've been a bit of a stretch.

And as I side note, if you want to know the soundtrack for this story. The Birthday Massacre. That is all. I swear, nearly all there songs make me think of Beyond... and not just because of the similar names. Lol. The _Birthday_ Massacre... Beyond _Birthday... _What a coincidence hehehehe

I don't think I need to explain why I chose the Tower for this chapter 3

**Another Note: Ishin Nishio**  
><strong>Death Note: Tsugumi Ohba<strong>  
><strong>Beyond Being: Piper Lynn<strong>


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